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Location: Born & Raised DC > Carolinas > Seattle > Denver
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Wasn't quite sure where to put this, admins please move if necessary.
So a few weeks ago, I realized that there are no parking meters for handicapped spaces. A guy that works in my building parks at a handicapped spot right in front of our building (downtown parallel parking). I can't tell what his condition is that qualifies him as handicapped, he walks fine. But my point is that he doesn't have to pay for parking at all, there aren't even any meters in front of the handicapped spots.
He parks right in front of our building, all day every day, for free. Since I've started taking notice of the guy, I realized there is a woman that parks in the other spot next to him that works across the street. She too parks on the street, all day, every day. For free. No meter.
I used to park on the same street they do, and for nearly a year I was running downstairs every 2 hours to feed the meter, pumping in 5-6 dollars a day, and got a few tickets.
Obviously I'm not questioning handicapped spaces themselves. But why aren't people who park in them required to pay a meter? Any particular reason?
The only thing I could come up with was maybe it's some sort of safety issue, but meters are always on the sidewalk, away from traffic.
They don't pay for regular meter parking in a lot of places as well, not just handicapped ones. Not as bad as it used to be, but you could in certain neighborhoods in LA a huge number of "handicapped" people would be clogging up all the parking as they'd just park their car there in the morning when they went to work, come back in the evening when they were done. No need to worry about feeding the meter or 2-hour time limits.
Oh please! Don't you think someone who is handicapped has enough problems already! Let them have their free parking. Yes, they may be working! Good for them. Your paying money for parking? Perhaps they are paying most of their check for medical bills! Perhaps they aren't working in one of the better paid positions because of their handicap as well! You have to walk down every couple of hours and feed the meter? Perhaps it takes them everything they have just to walk a few yards to the door! You may see him walking fine but may not see him huffing and puffing upon getting to wherever he is going and needing to sit for 15 minutes to catch his breath!
Does it get abused? I'm sure it does but at least give the benefit of doubt to the guy. There are many who are handicapped but others wouldn't know it and/or they try their best not to show it upon getting up. Handicapped does not mean wheel chair bound!
This can be a real problem in some cities. I know that in Minneapolis, they partially solved it by putting a 4-hour limit on how long a car with tags could hold a metered spot. That cut down a lot on people who were just using their tags to park for work.
Obviously I'm not questioning handicapped spaces themselves. But why aren't people who park in them required to pay a meter? Any particular reason?
I don think I have ever seen a meter that was easily accessible if you were in a wheel chair. How can you ticket someone if they don't have the means to put money in the meter?
...for nearly a year I was running downstairs every 2 hours to feed the meter...
I think that, unknowingly, you have answered your own question.
Think about this for a moment:
If somebody's mobility is limited--by an orthopedic problem, or a respiratory problem (probably not noticeable to an observer), or a cardiac problem (definitely not noticeable to an observer)--does it really make sense to force that person to return to his/her parking space periodically in order to "feed" a parking meter?
If you thought that it was a lot of effort on your part to have to "run downstairs every two hours", try to imagine what that effort would have meant for a handicapped person.
There was a town in Florida that offered $15 in parking ticket credit for every 10 items of food donated. I was about to donate a truckload of ramen noodle packets so that I could park illegally for life until I realized that the maximum credit is $50
Your disabled parking placard will allow you to park on a meter for a maximum of four hours.
They recently passed an ordinance restricting how long disabled people can park. People were parking for work all day, when you were only supposed to use the meter for a certain number of hours. We have parking garages for people who want to park all day - and it seems as if handicapped spaces take up half of those.
So what's wrong with that? Handicapped people cannot walk that far or if they can shouldn't. My father works but has a bad hip so he needs his handicap plate. He walks slower but he works and walks, doesn't mean he should lose his plates over it...
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